like a million little stars
by kathillards
Summary: "Red and pink go well together. Take it from us. Or rather, take it from almost every team of rangers ever." ―- TylerShelby, TroyEmma
1. pink

**notes:** i really wanted to write a tyler/shelby after that last episode, but my mood was entirely on my megaforce kids. so i decided to combine them!

hope you enjoy, and please don't forget to review at the end! i'd love to hear from you guys, especially if you think i should do another one like this from tyler's pov.

* * *

**like a million little stars**

_in the middle of the night  
when i'm in this dream_  
_it's like a million little stars_  
_spelling out your name_

― taylor swift, untouchable

* * *

The worst days of waitressing are when the café is completely empty.

It's not that Shelby really _enjoys_ running back and forth, waiting tables and delivering food, but at least the pace keeps her moving. Right now, in the quiet evening hours as the rest of the museum closes up around them, there are a grand total of four people in the Dino Bite Café, and one of them is her.

"Hey, Shelby," says Tyler from behind her, walking out of the kitchen without his apron. She sighs in preparation. "I'm gonna head home, okay? You can close up, right?"

"I've been doing this longer than you," she reminds him, and he laughs.

"Sorry to leave you alone," he adds, hopping over the counter she'd been leaning against. "I just have to – "

"Yeah, yeah," Shelby sighs, waving her hand dismissively. "I know, I know. Everyone else already gave me excuses, you don't have to bother. Have a good night, Tyler."

He pauses to send her an apologetic look, just as another girl walks through the doors, bringing the total customers in the café up to three. Tyler glances at her, then at Shelby, then offers her a quick wave and hurries out.

Shelby sighs again, this time more dramatically. She's pretty sure he only stayed an extra half-hour past his shift to keep her company, which she appreciated, especially since he was _good_ company, but still. Now it's just her, the couple being disgustingly overaffectionate in the corner, and this new girl.

"Hi," she says with her best customer service smile in place as she reaches for her pad, watching the girl take a seat on a stool at the counter. "Welcome to the Dino Bite Café! How can I help you?"

The girl opens a menu, but she doesn't look at it, instead surveying Shelby as if she's waiting for something. "Thanks," she says slowly, a smile dawning on her face. "Shelby, right?"

Shelby glances down at her nametag. "Yeah, Shelby," she confirms. "Can I get you a drink to get you started or – "

"Oh, my boyfriend's coming in soon, so I'll just wait for him," the girl says, beaming. "My name is Emma, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

She pauses, confused. "Nice to meet you, too," she says after a moment. "Well, I'll be right here when you need me."

Emma smiles and props her chin on her hands. "You're the pink ranger, right?" she asks casually, as if she's discussing the weather.

Shelby freezes, a pang of alarm going through her. "Um…what?" she asks, glancing around quickly to make sure nobody else is listening – the couple in the corner is too wrapped up in each other to notice them, at least. "I don't know what you're – "

"Sure you do," says Emma with a smile, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "This is Amber Beach, isn't it? Home of the Dino Charge rangers?"

Shelby stares at her in horror, unsure what to do as Emma sends a text – to her boyfriend? the government? an evil villain? – and looks back up at her, still smiling.

"I'm not – you must have the wrong girl," Shelby says hastily, backing away. Kendall was going to _kill her_, even though she had never seen this girl before in her life, so there was no way she could have spilled the secret –

"Oh, relax," Emma says with a laugh, reaching out quickly to catch Shelby's wrist before she can leave. "Sorry, I figured you might recognize me. Our mentor told us about the previous ranger teams, but I guess yours didn't. I'm Emma Goodall – Megaforce pink."

Shelby stares, this time in startlement. "You're – wait, you – _Megaforce_?" she repeats, her voice going higher as she circles through the words, the implication settling into her mind. "You – you fought the Armada – you saved the world from the invasion – "

Emma smiles at her. "That's us," she confirms. "Super Megaforce, at your service."

Shelby isn't sure if it's possible for her eyes to get any wider. "Oh my god, you guys are _legends_," she breathes. "_Everyone_ saw you save the world, you and – oh my god _every other ranger ever_. You – what are you _doing_ here?"

Part of her thinks that maybe the Megaforce rangers have press conferences to go to, TV specials to star in, supervising statues built in their honor. There isn't a soul on Earth who doesn't know about the Megaforce rangers, though it strikes her that she's never heard a peep on who they are inside the suits – she hadn't realized they had secret identities too.

"We thought we'd come check in with the new team," says a new voice, and Shelby whirls to find a boy around Emma's age, just a year older than her, entering the café. This time, she picks out the red of his shirt easily, matching it to the pink of Emma's dress, and putting the two together.

"You're Megaforce red," she gasps, just barely remembering to lower her voice in time. "You're – oh my god."

He smiles at her and settles into a stool next to Emma. "Troy Burrows, nice to meet you," he says, extending his hand for her to shake. "How're things around here? We wanted to meet the rest of your team, but I guess they've all left for the day."

"Oh my god," Shelby repeats, shaking his hand only on autopilot. _Megaforce red_. She distinctly remembers watching the television in horror when he was tied up and blindfolded by the forces of the Armada. "Um, I mean…yeah, this is closing time," she says, catching herself when the two of them trade amused looks. "You could come back tomorrow, I could – oh, I could show you our base! It's in the museum."

"That's convenient," Troy remarks, reaching across Emma to pick up her menu. Shelby doesn't miss the way his free hand went to hers, twining their fingers on top of her leg. "We had to teleport to a random island."

"You could _teleport_?" Shelby demands, and Emma laughs.

"Different powers," she explains, grinning at her. "Don't worry about it. How are you enjoying being a ranger?"

"Um," Shelby says, still feeling a little starstruck. "I'm – it's great. Fun, I mean, not _fun_, since, you know, we're fighting monsters all the time, but – it's fun. You know, like – " She stops, annoyed with the words for not coming out.

"Relax," Emma laughs, reaching out to place her hand on top of Shelby's, calming her down almost instantly. "We know what you mean. You don't have to be so nervous around us, either. We're all part of the same team, after all."

"Right," Shelby says, shaking her head to clear it. "Right, of course! I just – it's _so cool_ to meet you guys, I always wondering who you were. I mean, _everyone_ wondered, but I had no idea – were you guys in _high school_?"

"When we fought and defeated and evil alien invasion? Yeah," Troy says wryly. "Not as fun as it sounds, trust me."

Emma nudges him in the shoulder, making him laugh. "Tell us about your team," she says to Shelby. "We might get to meet them tomorrow, given how our plans turn out. We're only here for the weekend, though. How many do you guys have so far?"

"Uh, five of us, including me," Shelby says, then pauses. "Well, and Kendall and Keeper, I guess, but they're not rangers. I'm pink…which you already knew."

"Color-coding helps," Troy says. Emma nudges him harder and he grins at her. "I'm just saying."

"I bet your red is more fun than mine," Emma sing-songs teasingly, earning herself a look of indignation from her boyfriend. "What's his name?"

"Um, Tyler," she answers, wishing her face wouldn't heat up just saying his name. "He's – he's cool. You just saw him, actually, he was leaving when you came in."

"_Oh_, that was him!" Emma says, making Troy jump at the sound, having been completely enraptured by their children's menu. "I should have known, he was wearing red. He's _cute_."

"Hey," Troy protests half-heartedly, and Emma smiles fondly at him. "Leave some for the new pink, _geez_, Emma."

Shelby pauses. "What?"

Both Troy and Emma turn to look at her, Troy with raised eyebrows and Emma with a knowing smile. Shelby feels a little like she's being put on trial.

"Red and pink go well together," Emma says, her voice half teasing and half meaningful. "Take it from us. Or rather, take it from almost every team of rangers ever."

"_Almost_," Troy repeats, probably noticing the look of alarm on Shelby's face. "Sometimes we end up with red and yellow, like Andros and Ashley."

Shelby blinks at him. "We don't have a yellow."

Emma frowns. "You don't have a _yellow_?"

Troy grins. "Well, then, you're all set. Red and pink. Always works. Except in certain cases."

Shelby opens her mouth, then closes it, unable to find anything to say.

"You like him, right?" Emma says, having seemingly gotten over the fact that their team doesn't have a yellow. Shelby looks at her, then looks away quickly. Emma seems to have an unsettling habit of knowing exactly who she is and what she's thinking with one look. Maybe it's a pink thing. Or a retired pink thing, since god knows Shelby doesn't have that ability.

"No, I – we're just friends!" she says insistently. "It's not – it's really not like that."

"That's what I said at first," Troy snorts, pressing his shoulder into Emma's. She glances at him with a warm smile. "You should probably ask him out first, just to warn you."

"Yeah, if he's anything like Troy, he'll hold out on you for a year, so it's best to get things done early," Emma says, giggling over Troy's indignant "_Hey_."

Shelby shakes her head, stepping back. "Look, I – we're not like you guys. I mean, I don't know you guys, but – we're just friends, honest. He's so focused on this thing with his dad – "

"But you like him," Troy cuts across her smoothly, and it's phrased like a question but it feels more like a statement of solid fact. "I mean, you do, right?" he amends quickly when Emma nudges him, offering Shelby an apologetic smile.

She wavers. "I mean – " She's not sure what she means. Yes, he's cute. Yes, she enjoys spending time with him. And yes, they've had _moments_, but nothing concrete, nothing real. Certainly nothing on the level of Troy and Emma's steady, already-settled-in relationship.

Emma beckons her closer and lowers her voice, as if she's telling Shelby a secret. "It took Troy and I two years, Shelby," she says quietly, as Troy bows his head to peruse the menu again, giving them some semblance of privacy. "But it was worth it. I've met other pinks, you know, older pinks. They all told me the same thing – if you love him, let him know. People think we're the heart of the team, but we have to take care of our own hearts, too."

Shelby swallows, unable to find anything to say. The words reverbate through the empty café – the other couple seems to have slipped away without her noticing, leaving behind only a tip. Her heart pounds in her ears at the thought of telling Tyler – of being with Tyler, of kissing him, of even just holding his hand like Troy and Emma are. Of being anything as happy as Troy and Emma clearly are.

Emma pulls back with a smile and squeezes Shelby's hand. "Of course, you don't have to worry about it right now. Tell us about the rest of your team? What's your color scheme, since you don't have a yellow for some unfathomable reason?"

Shelby manages to laugh, and Troy looks up with a grin. "Well, we have blue and black and green. I guess there was no yellow energem. There is a gold one, though, but we haven't found it yet."

"Do you have a silver?" Troy asks in interest.

"Silver and gray," Shelby confirms.

"Why would you need silver _and_ gray?" Emma demands.

"That's like Ninja Storm, having crimson and red, navy and blue," Troy laughs.

Shelby grins. "We have an aqua and blue," she says, earning herself incredulous looks. "Well, we didn't _choose_ the color scheme. That's just how the energems came!"

Emma laughs, rolling her eyes. "Tell us about black and green. We had both, too, except ours were the same person. Are they very different?"

"Is blue a nerd, too?" Troy adds on, and Shelby giggles, shaking her head as she hops up on the stool next to Emma to tell them all about her team. The conversation goes on well past closing hours, and when she remembers to check her phone, she has three texts from Tyler, all with an excess of smiley faces.

Emma smiles knowingly at her as she and Troy get up to leave so Shelby can close down the café. "Looks like he misses you," she says, giggling as Shelby rolls her eyes, feeling her cheeks warm. "Even if you don't do anything till it's over," she adds more seriously, "just remember – you've got a pretty good track record behind you."

Shelby looks between Troy and Emma as he walks up to throw his arm over her shoulders, his whole expression softening as he smiles at her, completely lost to the rest of the world. Emma reaches out to hug Shelby, bringing him with her.

"It was nice meeting you," she says to them, watching both of them trade grins. "You guys should come by tomorrow. I'm sure the boys would love to meet you."

"We'd love to meet them, too," Troy says, smiling. "We'll bring the rest of our team over, how about that?"

"Sounds like a plan," Shelby beams, waving as the two of them wish her goodbye and leave the café. She glances back down at her phone to reply to Tyler, a smile overcoming her face as she does.

Maybe Troy and Emma were right about red and pink going together. She figures they would know, after all.

* * *

please _don't_ favorite without reviewing, thank you!


	2. red

**notes:** thanks for the reviews! the last one was really fun to write, so i added in tyler's pov, and there's going to be a third part, the culmination of this pseudo team-up.

hope you guys like it, and please don't forget to review! i'd really love to hear your feedback, and a lot of people have favorited/followed without reviewing, which is really disheartening.

* * *

**we can reach the constellations**

_let me in, hold me close_  
_fill my heart with simple notes_  
_so when it's hard to see_  
_they are there, reminding me_

― sabrina carpenter, we'll be the stars

* * *

Being around legends takes some time to get used to, Tyler's found.

The Megaforce rangers are only in town for the weekend, and they've already shown them around town, gone to the movies, the park, the whole shebang, and he still sometimes forgets himself when Troy comes up to the counter of the café to talk to him.

Today, Emma and Gia have stolen Shelby away from the museum to go shopping for their last day in Amber Beach, which makes the café feel far quieter than usual, even though it's bustling with people. He's on break, watching Chase attempt to look cool in front of Jake while flipping burgers from his vantage point at the counter, as Riley and Noah geek out over some gadget at a nearby table and Koda does his best to serve customers.

"Hey, Tyler," Troy greets, hopping up on the stool next to him. Tyler jumps and nearly falls off. "How's it going?" Troy continues easily, pretending he hasn't noticed.

Tyler coughs and straightens up. "Good, good," he says quickly, attempting to regain his composure without Troy noticing. "How – how are you?"

Troy smiles at him, looking amused. "I'm great. It's been a really fun weekend, thanks to you guys."

Tyler's eyes widen. "Oh – no, the pleasure is all ours, for sure!" he says, probably a bit too enthusiastically. Reigning it down, he adds, "It's _so cool_ to meet you guys. I knew there were other rangers, but I never figured any of them would notice us or come to Amber Beach to visit."

Troy laughs. "What can I say? Once a ranger, always a ranger. If you ever need help, we'll all be there."

Tyler tries not to look too delighted at the prospect. "So…when are you guys heading home?"

"Tonight," Troy answers, accepting a smoothie that Chase slides over the counter to him before rushing back to make sure the grill isn't on fire again. "We thought we'd take it easy today, no monster battles or anything. Your café is really nice. We only had a fro-yo place and – well, we never really got to eat our fro-yo."

Tyler grins. "I could show you our best fro-yo place before you leave, if you want?" he offers.

Troy laughs and nods, but his phone beeps with a text message before he can reply and he looks down to answer it. "It's Emma," he says as an explanation to Tyler. "She and the girls are coming back soon. She said we should all have dinner together at this Italian place downtown. You guys in?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Tyler says, knowing the other boys would be beyond delighted to have one last meal with the Megaforce rangers. "That'd be awesome."

Troy chuckles and leans forward on the counter. "Gotta be careful with ranger reunions, just to warn you. They tend to get messy – and loud – and inevitably, someone will call the cops if there's too many of us in one place."

Tyler stares at him with wide eyes. "Wait, seriously? How often does that happen?"

Troy sighs deeply. "Too many times," he says somberly, then cracks up at the look on Tyler's face. "Relax, kid. You'll be much more prepared to handle it by the time you guys get invited to the next reunion, trust me."

His phone beeps again as Tyler runs the thought of massive ranger reunions over in his head. Troy jots off a text then looks back up at him with a grin.

"Sorry, it's Emma," he says apologetically. "I love her, but she's an effusive texter."

Tyler smiles uncertainly back. Emma is very, very pretty, and she and Troy are the kind of in love that's somehow never awkward to be around and yet leaves you with a pang of longing for what they have together. It doesn't help that Emma is always around Shelby, and Troy is almost always around Emma, and, well, Tyler likes to be around Troy, and watching them be in love while he's around Shelby...

It gets complicated, sometimes.

Troy seems to be waiting for him to say something, so he quickly discards his thoughts and searches around for a way to continue the conversation – "So, how did you guys get together?"

He winces. That's not quite where he wanted the conversation to go when he opened his mouth.

Troy doesn't seem to mind. He looks down at his smoothie, twirling the glass around thoughtfully. "She kissed me first, actually. Before we even, like, went on a date or anything."

He pauses, looking up like he's gauging Tyler's reaction. Tyler isn't sure what's on his face, but it brings a smile to Troy's. "Pinks are like that, you know. Once everything is done, when the battle is over – they're good with that heart stuff. I liked her for months, but I never got up the courage to say anything."

Tyler shifts around on his seat, feeling unbearably like he's being led somewhere. "She seems really cool," he offers. "You're really lucky."

"I am," Troy agrees with a wry grin. "How about you?"

His eyes widen. "Me? Oh, uh, no, I – I don't have a girlfriend. Or anything. Just… just my friends."

Troy raises an eyebrow. Chase, who picks the most inopportune time to pass by the counter, makes a loud noise of skepticism that makes Troy's lips quirk with laughter. Tyler kind of wants to sink into the ground.

"Sure," Troy agrees amiably. "So, you and Shelby aren't – "

"_No_," he says quickly, probably too fiercely. "I mean – I mean, she's great, of course. And cute. But that's just – we're just – " His voice trails off as he spots the trio of girls entering the café, arm and arm and laughing over some joke. "…Friends," he finishes weakly, watching Shelby as she notices him and shoots him a smile.

Troy pats his shoulder as Emma breaks off from Gia and Shelby to head over to the two of them. "That's what I said, too," he says teasingly, winking when Tyler whips his head to look at him incredulously. "Hey, Emma," he adds as she kisses his cheek and slides onto his lap instead of getting her own stool. "How was shopping?"

"So much fun, we got the cutest matching bracelets," she gushes, then stops and turns to Tyler. "Sorry, I'm being rude. How are you, Tyler?"

Her smile is warm and pretty and reminds him so much of Shelby he has to take a second to gather his thoughts before he can reply. "I'm good, thanks," he says. "I hear we're all going to dinner later?"

Emma beams, clapping her hands. "Absolutely, it's our last night in town. We should do something special. The restaurant Gia picked out is by the pier, it'll be a beautiful view."

"Romantic," Troy adds, a grin playing on his lips as he looks at Tyler, who feels his face turn red. "Speaking of which – "

Tyler jumps off his stool. "I need to get back to work," he says hastily.

Emma frowns at him. "No, you don't," she says, as easily as if she can will things into existence – and maybe she can, because Tyler finds himself sitting down without even really meaning to, much to his horror. "Speaking of what, Troy?"

Troy closes his mouth, sending Tyler a meaningful look. Tyler runs a hand through his hair out of nervous habit, feeling jittery even though he doesn't really know why – out of the corner of his eye, he sees Shelby sit down with Gia at the nearest table, and the fluttery feeling increases.

"Let him go back to work," Troy says reassuringly to Emma, sliding his arms around her waist with a smile. "We can talk to him at dinner."

Emma looks up and raises her eyebrows at Tyler. "You know," she says slowly, just when he thinks Troy's escape plan has worked, "you should just tell her. It'd do wonders for your pulse."

She taps his wrist to make her point, then smiles and slips out of Troy's reach, heading over to the girls' table with a toss of her hair. It leaves the air around them smelling vaguely of peaches and roses, and Tyler blinks down at his wrist, unsure of how his speeding pulse had caught her attention.

"Sorry," Troy chuckles. "She's – she's really scary with that stuff. Like I said, it's a pink thing." He pauses, surveying Tyler carefully. "She's not wrong, though."

Tyler clears his throat, shaking his head. "She's – I just – it's not like that," he says, one last, weak attempt at a protest that he knows Troy isn't buying, not with the way his gaze is still drawn to Shelby. "I mean – I don't – "

"Dude, it's okay," Troy says, nudging his arm to get his attention again. "You don't have to do anything right now. But – I don't think she'd say no. In case you were wondering."

Tyler smiles helplessly. "Thanks, Troy," he says, and the words come out genuine. Troy nods and pats his shoulder as he stands to go sit with the girls, leaving Tyler alone with his thoughts as he watches the four of them – Troy and Emma, together, and Gia, laughing, and Shelby, smiling.

He smiles more just watching her, and he thinks maybe it's a sign.

* * *

please _don't_ favorite without reviewing, it's really discouraging. thank you guys!


	3. red & pink

**notes:** thanks for the reviews! and thanks to those of you who followed this little story to its end, i'm really glad you liked it!

hope you enjoy the epilogue, and please remember to review at the end, i'd really love to hear what you think!

* * *

**all our dreams are breaking out**

_take my breath and hold me high_  
_so i can feel the city lights_  
_glowing under me_

― sabrina carpenter, we'll be the stars

* * *

The night draws close, chilly and fresh with summer breezes, a blanket of stars glittering above Amber Beach as two teams of rangers stand by the pier overlooking crystalline blue waters, laughter in the air.

Emma leans in close to Troy, his arms coming around her as a shield of warmth from the winds, even though she's wearing a pink peacoat over her dress. He presses a kiss into her hair, smiling as he does, both of them standing together watching their friends.

Gia and Noah have monopolized Riley with scientific bickering, which is really more just Gia riling them up to amuse herself, and Jake and Chase are attempting increasingly dangerous skateboard tricks at the edge of the pier. Tyler and Shelby had been talking to Troy and Emma, but they'd kinda drifted apart, everyone just waiting to see which of the black rangers would fall into the water first.

"Hey, check it out," Troy murmurs to her, nudging her around to look at Tyler and Shelby. "They're finally talking."

Emma's face lights up and she straightens up from his arms, quietly stepping over closer to the younger red and pink rangers. "Can you hear what they're saying?" she asks in a hushed voice.

Troy sends her an amused look. "_Emma_," he sighs. "Eavesdropping is _wrong_."

She rolls her eyes. "Oh, come on, you know our entire team was eavesdropping when we had our first kiss. And I know you're curious – come _here_."

He follows her only semi-reluctantly, letting her lace their fingers together and pull closer to a streetlamp that partially obscures them from Tyler and Shelby's view. "Okay, but for the record, I am against this."

"Shhh," she giggles, pushing him lightly in indignation. "Can you see them from here?"

"Perfectly," Troy says dryly, though he can't help but watch as Tyler and Shelby smile at each other, both of them seeming a little nervous. They remind him so painfully of him and Emma in their ranger days, right down to the colors of their clothes, the way Tyler laughs and runs a hand through his hair, the way Shelby plays with the bracelets on her wrist.

Emma tilts her head around to smile up at him. "They remind me so much of us," she says, like she's reading his thoughts. He grins down at her and steals a kiss before she can get distracted watching the other two again. She sighs happily against his lips and pulls him back down for another, and another, and another.

The sweet taste of raspberry lemonade fills his mouth, her lips warm and soft on his, and he almost forgets about listening in on Tyler and Shelby entirely.

Almost.

-:-

"You know they're spying on us, right?" Shelby says, smiling when Tyler frowns at her in confusion. She nods her head to their left and he looks around to find Troy and Emma, making out against a streetlamp.

"They are?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "They look pretty busy to me."

Shelby snorts. "They totally are, just watch."

He waits and sure enough, as soon as they pull away from each other, Troy's gaze darts over to the two of them, though Emma is a bit better about being inconspicous. Troy looks away quickly, lowering his voice to murmur something to Emma, and Tyler laughs a little, turning to look back at her.

"_Why_ would they be spying on us?" he asks, more to himself than her, she thinks. But he glances at her as he runs a hand through his hair, his cheeks flushed – maybe from the cold, but maybe not – and he smiles.

Shelby feels herself smile back without even trying, though her heart does a little jump at the thought of the real answer to his question. "I don't know, I think they – I think they have it in their heads that – that we – "

He catches on quickly, thankfully. "_Oh_," he says in dawning realization. "Oh, right. That – that red and pink thing."

"Right!" she says, biting her lip. "They mentioned that to you, too."

Tyler rolls his eyes. "I don't think it's a _real_ thing. I mean – I mean, it's just them…right?" His voice fades into uncertainty as he looks at her, and she wishes she didn't get butterflies from how adorable he looks until she comprehends what he's saying.

Disappointment wells inside her for a moment, but she tamps it down quickly. "I don't – I mean, they mentioned a few others," she offers, watching his expression go from nervousness to curiosity mixed with a burst of a smile that disappears too quickly from his face. "Like…Time Force, or Lightspeed Rescue, or Turbo – " She stops herself from listing off too many teams, but the effect remains the same, and it's not like they don't both know what she's just said.

This time, when his smile comes, he looks almost amused. "Right. So…what do you think?"

Shelby blinks, surprised at the question. "What do I – what do I think of what?"

Tyler licks his lips, which is really an incredibly distracting habit she almost – almost, not quite – wishes he would stop doing. "Of the red and pink theory," he says, a half-grin tilting his lips.

"The red and pink _theory_?" she repeats incredulously, laughing when he grins properly at her. "Like, as a scientific theory? Well, clearly, it's flawed – some teams don't even _have_ a pink."

"But those that do?" he interrupts, his voice growing quieter. It suddenly feels like he's getting closer, and she has to battle the urge to step back out of nervousness, instead forcing herself to root herself to the pier, looking up at him and inhaling his fresh, woodsy scent.

"Those that do…" She repeats, rolling the words out slowly. "I guess there's something to be said for color-coded romance."

He laughs, bright and delighted, tugging a smile to her lips. "So, you think they're right?" he asks, his voice verging on the other side of teasing this time.

Shelby crosses her arms, deciding to give as good as she gets. "Regarding what?" she shoots back, and it's a challenge. He knows it's a challenge, from the way his eyes flicker, his gaze darting down to her lips and lingering just long enough for butterflies to bubble up inside her.

"Regarding – " Tyler pauses, running his tongue over his lips again. Shelby suddenly wishes she had brought a jacket to wear over her pink dress – it's cold, but that's probably not the only reason for the goosebumps running down her arms. "Regarding us."

Her breath catches in her throat; as much as she'd been waiting for him to say, she hadn't fully thought that he would. He's smiling down at her, familiar and warm and gentle, and his hands come up to run down her bare arms, sending heat all the way through her body. His hands are soft, his eyes bright in the glow of the moonlight, and before Shelby knows what she's doing, she's reaching up, curling her fingers into his shirt and pulling him down till their lips meet.

He melts into her easily, as if he was meant for this, his mouth warm and sweet as he kisses her. She pushes herself up on her toes to deepen the kiss, opening her mouth and letting him draw her in closer, his arms sliding around her waist and holding her there. When they part, not much, just enough to breathe, his breath comes out in a huff of laughter ghosting across her cheeks.

"Is that your answer?" he teases, tilting his head to press the words into her cheek, shooting tingles across her body from the sensation of his touch. It feels like coming home, being in his arms, like a million daydreams she never thought would come true.

"Yes," she answers with a grin, glancing sidelong to see what Troy and Emma are doing – carefully not paying attention to her and Tyler, but definitely still listening in. "I think they may have had a point."

"_May_ have?" he echoes, raising his eyebrows. "Is that all?"

"Well," she giggles, "we might need to experiment more to prove the hypothesis, is all."

Tyler laughs and kisses her again, this time faster, deeper, hotter, filling her insides with butterflies and her mind's eye with firework. His arms tighten around her and he picks her up, spinning her around in utter, uncontained delight. Someone whistles; she's pretty sure it's Troy, because she can hear Emma shush him quickly through her giggles.

Everyone is cheering and laughing, but she finds it hard to care. Nearby, Chase falls into the lake, splashing everyone with water, and it's kind of the perfect way to end the day.

* * *

please _don't_ favorite without reviewing, thank you!


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